The creepy Night.

Chapter 13 –

The dim glow of a flickering streetlamp cast long, jagged shadows across the pavement as Subey walked alone. His breath was unsteady, his mind tangled in the web of a horrifying past he wished he could erase. But the dead never stay silent.

Caroline's absence was a wound that refused to heal. Her laughter—once warm, once real—had been replaced by an echo of blood-stained silence. Subey clenched his fists. No one could know the truth.

Inside his apartment, he locked the door and turned toward the mirror. His reflection looked hollow, haunted. A sudden, bone-chilling draft whispered through the room, and for a moment, he felt her presence.

The hotel room. The memory clawed its way back, forcing itself upon him.

———

The lights were dim. Caroline lay motionless on the cold hotel bed. John stood over her, his face twisted in a sick satisfaction. Blood painted the sheets, the air thick with the scent of death.

Subey had arrived too late. He had rushed in, heart pounding, to find John leaning against the wall, smoking like it was just another night.

"She put up a fight," John had said, exhaling a cloud of smoke. His voice was eerily calm. "But in the end… she was just another pretty girl who thought she could trust me."

Subey had stared at Caroline's lifeless body—her eyes open, frozen in terror. His hands trembled. His heart shattered.

John had smirked. "You should thank me. She was getting too close. You don't want to know what she found out."

Rage boiled in Subey's veins. He had lunged at John, but the man had dodged effortlessly, laughing.

"You won't kill me," John had taunted. "Because I know your secrets too."

But John had been wrong. Moments later, the room was filled with the sound of struggle—the impact of fists, the crack of bones. And then, silence. John's body lay beside Caroline's, his blood mixing with hers.

Subey had stood over them both, his chest heaving.

Then, he had done the unthinkable.

He had wiped the place clean. He had erased the evidence. He had ensured no one would ever link him to what had happened. Caroline had deserved justice. But justice wasn't an option.

Not when the truth could destroy everything.

———

Present Day

A knock at the door snapped Subey out of his trance. His pulse spiked.

He opened it cautiously.

Mia stood there, her eyes cold, her lips curling into a knowing smirk.

"Still hiding it, aren't you?" she whispered.

Subey felt the room grow colder. His nightmare wasn't over. It was just beginning.

———